


Piece of Paper

by aluinihi



Series: Tumblr/Ask Drabbles [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Catfishing, Ed is 15/16, Fluff, Letters, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, the Elrics did not perform human transmutation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 09:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17825831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aluinihi/pseuds/aluinihi
Summary: "I already said I don't mind," Al said, "I just think you should be honest with him."“I am honest with him. Maybe I'm too honest even, I should tell him less shit."“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Alphonse stared at him. “You need to tell him who you are.”How old you are.It wasn’t said but it was there.[based on the Catfish AU byRie]





	Piece of Paper

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Riewa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riewa/gifts).



> Hello! This is a drabble based on [Rie's](http://rie.tumblr.com/) Catfish AU that I have a huge soft spot for TuT it's just perfect... The basic idea is Edward and Alphonse intend to transmute their mother, but take a more careful rote and dedicate themselves to research. Ed decides to send letters to his Hohenheim's old colleagues and always introduces himself as a young scholar, as to not bring up his real connection to him. He ends up meeting Roy, and as they exchange letters they fall for each other — but Roy thinks he is in his mid-twenties and Edward just... _never corrects him_. I love this so much ❤️ 
> 
> Anyway, English is not my native language, so please warn me of mistakes!

It was just a piece of paper. Edward had to keep reminding himself of that, as his heart went rampant just at the sight of the envelope. _Just a piece of paper_ , hence he could tear it open and get to the important bits already. He had been waiting for what, three months now? The letter was long and had that ridiculously pompous military watermark, the sideways calligraphy making everything look absurdly formal — but it _wasn’t_ , and that was the best part of it.

Just a piece of paper. Piece. Of. Paper.

Nothing good would come out of thinking more of it, would it?

Still, knowing that didn’t stop him from wanting to press the page against his chest, although common sense stopped him from acting on it. Al was _right there_ , and Ed was probably already making these pathetic faces — Winry said it made him look like a girl from a romance movie, which was _awful_.

“Is it Colonel Mustang again, Brother?”

Edward flushed at Alphonse’s wiggling brows, and he hectically shoved the letter back into the envelope. “It’s none of your business.”

The younger Elric laughed and Ed’s facial blood vessels went overdrive. Stupid meddling little brothers…

"I already said I don't mind," Al said, "I just think you should be honest with him."

“I _am_ honest with him. Maybe I'm too honest even, I should tell him less shit."

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Alphonse stared at him. “You need to tell him who you are.”

_How old you are_. It wasn’t said but it was there.

The heat in his veins turned sour, from embarrassment to irritation, and suddenly the situation felt more like a scolding than just poking fun. Ed's eyes went back to the beige envelope in his hands, twisting it between his fingers as he read the curly handwriting in the back over and over again. _Col. Roy Mustang, Col. Roy Mustang, Col. Roy Mustang_.

He couldn’t tell him. Not yet, not after all these years they spent exchanging letters back and forth like— _not like lovers, not like lovers, stupid, stupid_. Not now, when he was everything Ed had besides Al and an old house in Risembool.

“Shut up,” he grumbled, “I said it’s none of your business.”

Edward shoved the papers in his pocket, wincing internally as he felt it crumple even more. Just a piece of paper, he reminded himself. Just a piece of paper.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Did you get another letter?”

Roy Mustang glanced at his friend. The green eyes were gleaming behind the spectacles, scanning over him as if fishing for an incriminating reaction. The alchemist put his elbow on the bar counter and rested his chin on his palm, trying to not appear as shaken on the outside as he was on the inside.

“What makes you think that?”

Maes grinned victoriously. “You get this glow whenever it happens.”

“ _Glow,_ " he repeated, containing a laugh, "there are many things that could leave someone glowing."

“This one is different.”

“How come?”

“It’s rare,” the man shrugged, “and it’s just like the one you get when you talk about him.”

“I don’t even talk about him that much.”

It was the truth. Roy liked to keep Edward all to himself, he didn’t need anyone sticking their greasy noses into _them_. Maes was the only one to know about the letters ─ and the Madam had found out some way or another ─ and it was one of Roy’s top priorities to keep it this way. Maybe not because of what it was now, but for the potential of what it could become.

“You don’t need to. I just told you, Roy, you get this _glow_.”

Perhaps not talking about Edward was simple, but not _thinking_ about him was a whole different ordeal. Roy took a sip of his drink and relented. “If you say so.”

“You two should meet already, it’s time for you to settle down.”

“One day,” Roy said wistfully, “for now he’s too occupied with his research.”

Hughes squinted at him. “Well, that’s what he tells you, uh.”

“God, Maes, we’ve been over this already.”

“What if he’s lying to you all this time and avoiding you? What if he’s an old man? _Really_ old, like sixty or eighty.”

“His vocabulary is too crude for that.”

The man’s eyes widened. “What if he’s a kid then?”

“Too academic.”

“Roy _,_ ” a hand slapped over his shoulder, “what if he is _a woman?_ ”

“ _Maes._ ”

Laughing, his friend let go of him and went back to his drink. “But seriously, do you even what he looks like?”

_Long blond hair he says it’s always braided, eyes in a ‘weird gold’ shade, tanned,_ Roy thought, _he’s good in hand-to-hand combat so an athletic body_.

Roy sighed.

“It’s none of your business.”

**Author's Note:**

> I received a very aggressive and xenophobic anon ask saying I shouldn't write underaged RoyEd and that my writing style sucks, but hey, I don't mind. If you have any _actual_ criticism and want to help me grow as a writer, you should address these topics _privately_ and _off-anon_. I am very open to it, please, feel free to do so.
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr](https://aluinihi.tumblr.com), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/aluinihi) and [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/aluinihi) as well! Let's talk :D
> 
> Also, go ahead and [request a drabble!](https://aluinihi.tumblr.com/ask)


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